Jude Bellingham fans call for star to delay Real Madrid move amid ongoing racist abuse from La Liga fans

Jude Bellingham has been heavily linked with a move to La Liga side Real Madrid for quite some time now. Esteemed football journalist Fabrizio Romano has reported the deal between Bellingham and Real has been agreed on personal terms, with negotiations between the two clubs being all that remains.

At a recent match between La Liga teams Real Madrid and Valencia, things got serious very quickly as the Valencia crowd chanted racial slurs at winger Vini Jr, aged just 22. A clip of the moment was uploaded to Twitter, with heartbreaking scenes as the talented young winger can be seen in tears.

Despite following La Liga’s ‘racism protocol’, Vinicius Jr remained subject to the abuse, and eventually was handed a controversial red card by the referee who sent him off the pitch. Prior to this, Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti reportedly tried to sub Vini out of the game for his protection, but was told not to by the referee.

In an interview after the match, Ancelotti stated (translated to English): “The whole stadium was shouting ‘monkey, monkey, monkey’.

“I ever thought I’d have to (consider) taking a player off because he’s being abused. He’s a young lad, Vinicius, who loves playing football.

“I have never seen an entire stadium (chanting) racist abuse.”

Now, fans of Jude Bellingham have reacted by discouraging the England midfielder from moving to Real Madrid until La Liga’s clear racism epidemic is tackled appropriately.

One Twitter user said: “Time for Jude Bellingham to reject Real Madrid and cite La Liga’s stance on racism. That would be interesting”. Another added: “I hope Jude Bellingham was watching what happened to Vinicius Jr against Valencia. The worst part is, La Liga powers that be and clubs themselves are in denial. In 2023 we're still grappling with racism. 😭😭”. A concerned supporter wrote: “If Vini junior is facing serious racism in Spanish La Liga then Jude Bellingham might too 😪😪”.

After the match, Vini shared an Instagram post addressing the incident, and wrote: "racism is normal in LaLiga… the championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi, today belongs to racists."

This Monday (May 22) Vinicius once again took to Instagram to share the shocking number of occasions on which he had been subjected to racial abuse by fans of different La Liga sides. The video includes collective chants from fans including racial slurs, direct verbal abuse, objects being thrown, and a disturbing effigy of Vinicius Jr hung from a bridge by the neck by Atletico Madrid fans.

He wrote in the caption: “What is left to criminalize these people? And punish clubs for sports? Why don't the sponsors charge La Liga? Don't the televisions bother to broadcast this barbarism every weekend?”

The post has now amassed over 5 million likes. 7 people have now been arrested in connection with the incidents, according to ESPN.